Hesperia schools renew $15M bond

HESPERIA — A decision by Hesperia school officials to go the extra mile to seek a special election on a bond proposal paid off, with voters approving a$15 million plan to improve school facilities.

In order to hold the election Sept. 30, and avoid potential "no" voters in the November general election, school officials had to get nearly 200 people to sign petitions.

Not only did they get the signatures, but they got the bond passed too.

A fairly new election law restricts most elections to just four dates per year. But a little known or used exception allows school districts to petition for special elections.

Hesperia Community Schools Superintendent Dean Havelka said district officials took the gamble -- and agreed to pay the approximately $3,000 to hold the special election -- after being told that more people who are apt to vote no on millage elections show up at presidential general elections than any other.

"Obviously we wanted to get as many positive voters as we could," Havelka said.

The voters approved a proposal to extend a current 7-mill tax levy for 13 years. As a result residents won't pay additional taxes, but will pay longer on the bonds originally approved in 1995. The levy now will expire in 2038.

The bonds will pay for extensive renovations and remodeling at the elementary and middle school buildings as well as some improvements to athletic facilities.

"About the only thing that will be left is the Terrazzo (tile) hallways and the brick and mortar shell," Havelka said. "Everything else will be new."

Havelka said the school board ended up being on a "fast track" with the bond proposal that he originally thought wouldn't go to voters until February 2009 -- one of the four election dates established under state law.

But after talking to architects, the school board decided to move the project up -- but didn't have time to get all the paperwork in order by the primary election in August, Havelka said.

Under state law that went into effect in 2005, elections were restricted to four times a year -- with the school district special election exception -- as a way to consolidate and simplify election procedures. The change also was intended to reverse chronically low turnout at school elections by placing them on ballots with municipal, state and federal contests.

County and municipal clerks took over responsibility for school elections under the law, and municipalities foot the majority of the bill to hold the regular elections.

Havelka said bond proponents also carefully chose who to send election information to. A community committee identified likely yes voters -- such as those who have children or grandchildren in the district -- and mailed to them literature about the bond proposal.

Havelka said he was told "don't waste your time trying to convert a 'no' voter."

The end result, he said, is virtual reconstruction of the elementary and middle school buildings that were built in the 1960s. The buildings will receive completely new infrastructure -- including wiring, lights, windows, doors, roofs, boilers and flooring.

"We'll have 21st century classrooms now instead of 1960s classrooms for a lot of the kids," Havelka said. "It's a good thing."

The elementary school will get a nine-classroom addition that will allow grades to be clustered together. An old wing built by the intermediate school district will be demolished. In addition, the main elementary entry and office will be relocated on the building's south side and a new drop-off area for middle school students will be developed.

The elementary/middle school improvements are expected to cost $8.4 million, and officials hope much of the work in the elementary/middle schools will be done by December 2009.

Other aspects of the bond proposal include:

• Improvements to the football/track complex, including resurfacing the track and new bleachers and lights at the football field.

• Relocation of the softball field -- which has water drainage problems -- from the northeast corner of the elementary property to an area adjacent to the baseball field on the school's south side.

• Relocation of locker rooms at the middle school so that the varsity wrestling area can be enlarged.